How Does Reliance Jio 4G Speed Compares To Airtel 4G: Which is Slower Network?

Recently, Reliance Jio created a world record with 16 million subscribers in one month. The company aims to reach 100 million users by March 2018. The huge customer base was captured by the network, thanks to its Welcome offer, which provides free 4G internet until December 31st. However, several complaints have cropped up regarding Jio 4G speeds.

Reportedly, the Reliance Jio speeds have dropped drastically over the past few days. This speed drop will be a major point of concern for Reliance users, as its services will be commercially launched on January 1, 2017. If Jio speeds don’t improve, many users can be expected to ditch the network after the free run. Especially, since experienced competitors such as Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, and BSNL have revised their data and call tariffs.

Screenshots / Speedtest by Ookla Courtesy: IBT Times

As per reviews floating online, the Jio 4G speeds are quite inconsistent throughout the day. During peak hours, the speeds dropped drastically, especially in the night. Comparatively, the coverage during the day is much better. The reason for this drop might be the congestion, caused by 16 million users. Jio has stated that hundreds and thousands of calls are failing while connecting to other networks, due to lack of points of interconnect (POIs). The company recently claimed that it saw zero calls failures for Jio-to-Jio HD calls. However, several users have experienced such problems even while connecting to Jio’s own numbers.

As per speed tests [run by Ookla] on Jio and Airtel at different times of the day, Airtel offers better 4G speeds than Jio. This is bad news for Jio as its USP is 4G speed. Once the free offer ends, it might find it hard to retain users. In fact, Airtel is not the only rival Jio needs to care about. Vodafone and Idea are also in the process of employing new technologies and offering better plans. The only other unique offering by Jio is free voice calling, which suffers due to speed drops.